Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II Men's National Player of the Week

Taylor Sander, a 6-4 junior outside hitter for No. 1 Brigham Young University, has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA Men's Division I-II National Player of the Week. Sander led the Cougars to the No. 1 spot in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time this season after another pair of MPSF wins took their overall record to an impressive 5-1. First up last weekend was then-No. 1 UC Irvine, where Sander went on to smash a team-high 16 kills hitting .375, adding another eight digs and three blocks. He followed that up the next day with another team-high in kills, this time with 11, and finished with the same hitting percentage of .375 against then-No. 13 UC San Diego. His two aces against the Tritons gave him the new Cougars record for career aces in the modern really era. For the week, the two-time AVCA All-American averaged 3.85 kills, 1.57 digs and 1.14 blocks per set as they don't play again until the first weekend of February. This is the 20th time in program history a BYU player has garnered Sports Imports/Player of the Week honors, and the second for Sander after winning it January 17th of last year. The Cougars are coached by Chris McGown.